Brazil, Fastest Growing Market for Tourist Arrivals to DR in 2010

Brazil, Fastest Growing Market for Tourist Arrivals to DR in 2010
Santo Domingo, 01/12/2011

Brazil is the county with the fastest growing number of tourists arriving in the Dominican Republic where a total of 31,981 Brazilian tourists arrived over the course of 2010 up until November.

“Participating in events in Brazilian cites where we had never been before and strengthening contacts with tour operators and airlines was essential…”

This data met the proposed goal of the Tourism Promotion Office (OPT) in Brazil with an increase of 89.9% over the January to November period. This growth in tourism from Brazil puts the South American country ahead of Switzerland, Mexico and close to Belgium and Portugal, countries on the list of medium-size countries, according to press release from the Ministry of Tourism.

According to Mauricio Vianna, Director of the Dominican OPT in Brazil, one of the key points responsible for the considerable growth in the number of tourists this year was the OPT’s participation in events in Brazilian cities where they had not previously participated, thus strengthening links with tour operators and airlines.

“Participating in events in Brazilian cites where we had never been before and strengthening contacts with tour operators and airlines was essential…we also trained sales executives and reached cooperation agreements on travel projects, all of which was instrumental in this growth spurt,” said Vianna. In addition, he added that to maintain the growth and make it carry over to 2011, the OPT in Brazil intends to beef up promotion in cities where the Dominican Republic is already well-known. They will open roads into other important tourism areas such as Brasilia where the three airline companies have recently launched new flights.

Currently, Copa, Lan and Gol Airlines are landing in Punta Cana; Santo Domingo, with Avianca, Copa and Taca, receives daily flights from Brazil. Santiago receives weekly Copa and American Airlines flights. GOL and White Jets organize charter flights from Sao Paulo and Campiñas, respectively